Margaret Swaine’s Spirits Review – April 2014

Malibu rum sparkler, Sveva’s Orangella, Screech honey rum, Long Table London Dry and Ménage à Trois vodka are a sampling of what’s new popping up on the liquor shelves this spring. These diverse and flavour packed newbies are sure to find fans.

Sveva’s Orangella has quickly become one of my favourites. This intensely orange flavoured liqueur (like lemoncella only made with orange peels instead of lemon) from Sicily is delicious on its own served chilled or on ice. However I’ve found that made into a cocktail with prosecco and a splash of gin, it’s divine – like a grown up mimosa.

From Rock Spirits in Newfoundland, Screech Honey Rum is a blend of imported Jamaican rums flavoured with honey and orange peel. These additions nicely round the sharp edges of screech.

Two premium rums from Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) in Guyana coming to our shores are El Dorado 8 Year Old and El Dorado Spiced rum. The 8 Year old is fantastic rum at a bargain price and the spiced version delivers flavours of vanilla pod and cinnamon in a nice dry style. All of the world’s fantastic Demerara rum comes from Guyana and from just one distillery, the Diamond Distillery of Demerara Distillers Limited. Demerara gets its name from the river that runs through the capital Georgetown and the region.

Demerara makes rum for dozens of other spirit companies. For their own brand, El Dorado, they produce about a dozen different, all deliciously good rums. All the rums are aged in former bourbon barrels, and they have about 90,000 barrels spread out between three warehouses.

Rum is also made of course on most of the Caribbean islands. Each island produces its own distinctive style (though a number do get their young spirit from Demerara Distillers). On a recent trip to Puerto Rico I visited the Bacardi rum distillery. The company’s free distillery tour in San Juan includes two drinks per person so no surprise that it draws crowds from morning to closing. Between 850 and 1,500 people take the 45 to 90 minute tour everyday where the drinks start flowing no matter the time.

Bacardi was founded by Don Facundo Bacardí Massó in Cuba in 1862. Now the largest privately held, family-owned spirits company in the world, it set up distilleries in other countries (including in Brampton, Ontario) after the Cuban Revolution. The Puerto Rico distillery goes 24/7 and produces 100,000 gallons of rum a day from imported molasses. At a tasting with senior brand manager William Ramos I had the joy of sampling Bacardi Reserva Limitada, a spirited blend of 10 to 16 year old rum.

Love the taste of coconut? Then give Malibu Rum Sparklermade with coconut water and rum a try. Just chill and pour into a champagne flute for a festive bubbly refresher.

Cider, one of North America’s oldest drinks is enjoying a resurgence in popularity. The number of Canadian cideries is growing with new ones coming on stream wherever apples are grown. Ontario has gone from two to 15 cideries in five years for example. Pommies Dry Cider crafted in Caledon uses the juice of five varieties of heritage apples.

Artisanal distilleries are also booming in Canada. Coming up Saturday, May 10, sixteen of British Columbia’s leading small-batch distilleries (plus one from the Yukon) will convene in Vancouver bringing their gin, vodka, whisky and other spirits and liqueurs for BC Distilled – the province’s premier micro-distillery festival. Spirit enthusiasts can buy tickets via Eventbrite at: BC Distilled Festival

Participants in BC Distilled include the Long Table Distillery which recently celebrated their first year of distilling in Vancouver. They just launched their London Dry Gin and Texada Vodka into Alberta and will be presenting soon to the Ontario Liquor Control Board.

Yaletown (the Mark James Group; British Columbia’s premiere collection of craft brewery restaurants) which has brewed fresh beer for close to 20 years and pioneered the craft beer movement in Vancouver is another participant. The company launched their production of handcrafted spirits on Repeal Day December 5th, 2013 marking the anniversary for the end of prohibition. Yaletown Vodka‘s use of BC’s Peace River 2 row malt makes a distinctive vodka. Yaletown Gin is distilled with 8 botanicals.

The Trinchero Family Estates out of California has expanded their Ménage à Trois line beyond wine to include Ménage a Trois Vodka, six times distilled and super smooth. All the spirits above give us lots of reasons to get excited this season.

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